"Since I was in high school, I dreamed about playing in the dome" ... LSU OT K.J. Malone

As LSU gets ready for its season opener against BYU, they now also have to deal with a change of venue. Will the move from Houston to the Superdome be a good thing for the Tigers? Glenn Guilbeau and James Bewers break it down.
Caitlin Jacob

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Advertiser photo by Buddy Delahoussaye--Tigers running back Derrius Guice (5) with the near catch during the second half on Saturday September 10, 2016.(Photo11: Buddy Delahoussaye, Special to The Daily Advertiser)Buy Photo

BATON ROUGE — Even if LSU fans in the Baton Rouge area put their cars in neutral for the entire trip, it would still take a fraction of the time for them to reach the Superdome in New Orleans compared to the voyage for Brigham Young fans in the Provo, Utah, for the "neutral site" game between LSU and BYU in the dome at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the dome.

Provo to New Orleans ... 1,703 miles, which will take about 27 hours.

Baton Rouge to New Orleans ... 80 miles, which will take about 90 minutes.

The original site of the game in Houston, Texas, still would have meant 1,406 miles and a 22.5 hour drive for BYU fans from Provo as compared to 272 miles and four hours and 20 minutes for Tiger fans from Baton Rouge.

"We hope many of you will be able to make necessary changes to join us in New Orleans to cheer on the Cougars," BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said in a statement to BYU fans on the school's athletic website.

Necessary changes?

Try major.

The game truly is "way down yonder in New Orleans" for BYU, and just a Big Easy jaunt down Interstate 10 for LSU. The Tiger players are excited about being home in the dome, where LSU is 13-5 since it opened in 1975. LSU had won nine straight in the dome, including national championships in the 2003 and '07 seasons, before losing the national title there to Alabama on Jan. 11, 2012.

"I'm hoping the game will be in New Orleans," LSU junior cornerback Donte Jackson of Riverdale High in Metairie said on Monday before the move of the game from Houston to the dome was announced late Monday afternoon because of the continued impact of Hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas.

"I never got to play in the dome in the high school playoffs," Jackson said.

No. 13 LSU is a two-touchdown favorite over BYU, which is 1-0 after a 20-6 win over Portland State on Saturday in Provo.

"Ever since I was in high school, I dreamed about playing in the dome," tweeted LSU senior left tackle K.J. Malone of Cedar Creek High in Ruston. "Now, I get the chance."

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva made the announcement to the team before practice Monday afternoon just before the news broke on multiple outlets in Baton Rouge and elsewhere.

"I jumped pretty high," said junior center William Clapp of Brother Martin High in New Orleans during interviews on Tuesday.

Guice made it clear, though, that he did not like the circumstances that led to the game being moved — the devastation of the Houston area by Harvey.

"I know what that feels like," he said, remembering the flood of the Baton Rouge area a year ago that destroyed his family's home in Baton Rouge. "We had to redo our whole house. My prayers go out to the people over there."

Guice, an All-American who led the Southeastern Conference in rushing yards last season with 1,387, is expected to start Saturday after missing some practice last week following the extraction of wisdom teeth.

"My teeth ain't holding me back," he said. "I don't care if they pull them all out. I'll be ready. My mouth is still a little swollen, but I'm always 100 percent."

Junior All-SEC outside linebacker Arden Key will not play because of his shoulder injury that required surgery last spring. He is the only serious injury on the roster. True freshman K'Lavon Chaisson or Andre Anthony or Ray Thornton — both redshirt freshman — will start in Key's place.

CLOSE

"What's an LSU season without a distraction?"
/Glenn Guilbeau/USA Today Network

Senior quarterback Danny Etling will get to showcase his new and improved arm after an off-season back procedure.

"It doesn't matter to me where the game is," he said Monday before the site decision. "As long as we're playing a team other than ourselves, I'll be geared up and ready to go. I don't care where it's at, honestly. I'm just ready to go play. And again, what's an LSU season without a distraction?"

Etling had suggested the game be moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, which has only 12,764-seat Memorial Stadium at Indiana State but is his hometown.

"If we go over the Mason-Dixon line (border between southern Pennsylvania and Maryland, West Virginia and Delaware), more of my fans will make it," he said.

BYU freshman tight end Matt Bushman is happy with the game site being in New Orleans despite the distance. He and his family lived in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit there 12 years ago Tuesday.

"Whenever these natural disasters happen, I have a soft spot in my heart for the people who are affected," he said in the Daily Herald newspaper in Provo. "I was about 9 years old, but it was tough. Our house didn't get completely destroyed, but it got messed up. School didn't start for six months, so our family made the decision to drop everything and go to Arizona and live with my grandparents for a while. It's tough and I feel for the families in Houston. I know they are strong people, and they will bounce back."

Bushman made those comments Monday before the game was officially moved to New Orleans, but it had been leaning that way since Sunday.

"It would be awesome if the game is in New Orleans," he said. "The last time I went back was when I was in eighth grade."

In the end, Etling did not care where the game was going to be played, be that Tiger Stadium, NRG Stadium in Houston or Terre Haute.

"I don't care where it's at, honestly," he said. "Just ready to go play. And again, what's an LSU season without a distraction?"

New LSU coach Ed Orgeron, who will open a season as a head coach for the first time since 2007 at Ole Miss, agreed.

"Our focus is going to be on BYU," he said. "These guys are well prepared for this. It (moving of the game) will not be a distraction, I promise you. I told the team, block out the doors. Look at all the stuff we went through last year going into the last week. Who is going to be the coach? Who is not going to be the coach? I think this team is trained. I talked to them about focusing on the task at hand. All of them have said, 'Coach, I don't care where we play. Let's go. We're ready to play.'"

FOX HIRES LES MILES: Former LSU football coach Les Miles, who was let go at LSU after a 2-2 start last year and replaced by Orgeron on an interim basis at the time, has been hired by Fox Sports as a color analyst for football telecasts. His first assignment will be Northern Illinois at Nebraska on Sept. 16 with play-by-play man Tim Brando, who recently hinted that the network would hire Miles. Miles' son Ben Miles is a freshman reserve fullback at Nebraska out of Catholic High in Baton Rouge. Les Miles will also be part of the SEC Network' show Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

LSU-BYU TICKETS: LSU fans desiring to buy tickets for the BYU game (8:30 p.m. Saturday in the Superdome) who previously purchased tickets for the game in Houston or who are season ticket holders or who are LSU students will have an opportunity to buy tickets Wednesday. Those three groups were to receive an email Tuesday night with an offer code. Then they will receive another email on Wednesday morning with specific instructions on how to purchase new tickets via Ticketmaster.com.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday via Ticketmaster.com at prices ranging from $40 to $215.

Tickets previously purchased for the original game in Houston are not valid. But they can be redeemed for refunds through the outlet in which they were purchased.

Glenn Guilbeau covers LSU sports for the USA Today Network of Louisiana. Follow his stories on Twitter at @LSUBeatTweet. Coverage of LSU and commentary by Guilbeau supported by Acadiana Chevrolet in Breaux Bridge at 1315 Rees Street. Research your next Chevrolet purchase at www.acadianachevy.com.